Water Supply Discussion - Demands Inflows/Pass-Thru Requirements of Agreed Order Council Presentation August 30, 2016 1
Today’s Presentation • Alternative Demand Projection – Kristi Shaw (HDR) • Fresh Water Inflows – Ray Allen (Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program - CBBEP) • Agreed Order Pass-Thru Requirements – Rocky Freund (Nueces River Authority - NRA) 2
Discover, Discuss, Decide 3
Presentation Schedule Date Topic May 10, 2016 Discovery – Texas Water Planning July 19, 2016 Discovery – Demands August 30, 2016 Discussion – Demands Discovery – Agreed Order September 27, 2016 Discovery – Current Supplies (and Model Updates) Discovery – Future Supplies* Discovery and Discussion – RFI Approach October/ November 2016 Discovery - Future Supplies Nov / Dec 2016 Decide – Adopt Water Management Plan * Studied by Region N 4
Water Supply Discussion: Alternative Demand Projections Kristi Shaw, P.E., HDR Council Presentation August 30, 2016 5
Summary- Range of Water Demands (Previously Presented July 19 th ) 6
Council-Requested Alternative Based on Dr. Lee Studies Scenario 3- (New) 7
Council-Requested Alternative Based on Dr. Lee Studies Scenario 3- (New) 8
Summary- Range of Water Demands 9
Key Entities • USBR (US Bureau of Reclamation) – provided funding for and built Choke Canyon Reservoir (CCR) • TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) – Party to permit and agreed order • City (Corpus Christi) – Took operational responsibilities for CCR from USBR • NRA (Nueces River Authority) – Third party, independent pass-thru compliance assistance • NEAC (Nueces Estuary Advisory Council) – Monitor pass-thru implementation and make recommendations 10
Who is NEAC? • Established by 1992 Interim Agreed Order • Continues through present • Composed of State agency staff, Port of Corpus Christi, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), industry, private citizens, university staff, CBBEP, customers, NRA, and representatives of parties to agreed order, including the City • Ray Allen, Rocky Freund and Bill Green are members 11
Water Rights Permit - 1976 – Required for authorization of Choke Canyon Reservoir – To appropriate waters of the state in the Nueces River Basin – In order to protect the bays and estuaries, the State of Texas preserved inflows to the bay (151,000 AF – Special Condition 5b.) 12
Since the 1976 Water Rights Permit Year Item Significance 1990 First Order Technical Advisory Committee 1992 Agreed Nueces Estuary Advisory Council created, Order salinity credits 1995 Agreed Changed from ‘mandatory releases’ to Order ‘passage of inflows’, Drought Contingency Plan 2001 Agreed Opened overflow channel, Rincon Bayou Order pipeline, adaptive management 2007 Senate Bill 3 Required state agencies to address environmental flows of streams and bays 13
Freshwater Inflows - History, Benefits, and Science Ray Allen Executive Director Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program 14
Nueces River & Estuary Lake Corpus Christi Nueces River Nueces River Delta Nueces Bay Corpus Christi Bay 15
We Live in a Semi-Arid Area 16
History of the Reservoirs • 1930 La Fruta Dam – Lake Lovenskiold • 1935 Mathis Dam – Lake Corpus Christi • 1958 Wesley Seale Dam – Lake CC • 1982 Choke Canyon Reservoir Nueces River Estuary 17
Changes in Freshwater Inflows • Freshwater inflows have been reduced by 47% into Nueces Estuary, and by 94% in the Upper Nueces Delta Mean River Flow Into Mean River Flow Into Nueces Upper Nueces Delta 1940-1957 1940-1957 1958-1982 1958-1982 -0.8% Acre Feet Acre Feet 1983-1999 1983-2015 -47.4% 2007-2016 pipeline 0 500,000 1,000,000 100,000 0 100000 *Data not available for 1997 - 2000 *2007-2016 Rincon pipeline flows only, does not include natural overbanking from floods. 18
Benefits of Freshwater Inflows Healthy Bays - Healthy Economy - Quality of Life • Nature Tourism* • 47% of visitors are nature based • $674 million in visitor destination spending • $987 million total economic impact • Commercial and Recreational Fisheries • Quality of Life for people who live and play here * The Economic Significance of Tourism and Nature Tourism in Corpus Christi, Dr. Jim Lee, TAMUCC, 2014. 19
Science: Environmental Flows “ A schedule of flow quantities that reflects seasonal and yearly fluctuations that typically would vary geographically, by specific location in a watershed, and that are shown to be adequate to support a sound ecological environment and to maintain the productivity, extent, and persistence of key aquatic habitats in and along the affected water bodies. ” 20
Science: Sound Ecological Environment • Sustains the full complement of native species in perpetuity; • Sustains key habitat features required by these species; • Retains key features of the natural flow regime required by these species to complete their life cycles; and • Sustains key ecosystem processes and services, such as elemental cycling and the productivity of important plant and animal populations. 21
What Exactly do Freshwater Inflows do in the Nueces Estuary? Create environmental conditions that sustain biological productivity. Nueces Delta 0 Nueces Bay 10 18 Corpus Christi Bay 26 34 Gulf of Mexico 22
Why is Salinity Important? • Species prefer different salinities • Benefits are seen throughout the food chain Indicator species Smooth Cordgrass 10-25 ppt profile showing Infauna salinity preferences 16-20 ppt in Nueces Delta and Nueces Bay. Eastern Oyster 10-20 ppt Blue Crab 10-20 ppt Atlantic Croaker 8-22 ppt 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 ppt 18 Salinity 23
Science: Senate Bill 3 Process • Nueces Basin & Bay Expert Science Team (BBEST) Historical and scientific review of estuary. Only estuary along Texas coast to not meet the definition of a Sound Ecological Environment. • Nueces Basin & Bay Area Stakeholder Committee (BBASC) Representing agriculture, recreation, municipalities, industrial water users, commercial fishing, public interests, regional water planning, etc. 24
Studies and Research Since Choke • Salinity, tide, meteorological data collection • Studies to evaluate the monthly targets • Studies on the effectiveness of Rincon Bayou pipeline • Hydrodynamic modeling • Biological response 25
Key Points • A healthy Nueces Estuary requires freshwater inflows. • In Texas, other reservoir systems have pass-thru or release requirements (e.g. Lake Texana). • Nueces BBEST Finding: Nueces Bay was not a sound ecological environment. • Required inflow studies have been completed and are ongoing. 26
Pass-Thru Requirements of the Agreed Order Rocky Freund Deputy Executive Director Nueces River Authority 27
Watersheds Frio River • Reservoirs operated as a system to maximize water supply • Lake Corpus Christi – larger watershed, more likely to fill • Choke Canyon Reservoir - cooler, deeper reservoir – better storage • Pass-thru requirements released from Lake Corpus Christi 28
What is Pass-Thru Requirement? • Measured inflow into the Choke Canyon / Lake Corpus Christi Reservoir System, UP to a target amount, is required to be passed through to the bays and estuaries. • Target, in the sense, is the maximum requirement under the agreed order. • Thus, no release from storage is ever required to meet the target . 29
What Determines Target Amount? • Varies by current reservoir system storage (% of total capacity) • Varies by month (based on historic flow patterns) • Salinity relief credit reduces target amount 30
Annual Total Targets 30,000 25,000 20,000 Total Year Targets Acre Fett (AF) >70% 138,000 AF 15,000 40% - 70% 97,000 AF 30% - 40% 14,400 AF <30% = 0 AF 10,000 5,000 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 30% - 40% 40% - 70% >70% 31
How is the inflow into Reservoir System Measured? Two computations: (1) Inflow = (NTRT*+FRTT+SMTT) ARWT SMTT – CCR But if sum <0, then CCR FRTT alternate calculation NTRT NRTT (2) Inflow = NRTT+FRTT +SMTT+ARWT *(NTRT includes flows from NRTT, ARWT and CCR) 32
Frequently Asked Questions How does local rainfall affect pass-thru? • Any measured inflow into Nueces Bay, whether over the salt water dam at Labonte Park or through Rincon pipeline, counts toward pass-thru. Does city get credit for surplus inflows? • Yes, surplus inflow, into Nueces Bay & Delta, over required pass-thru can be carried forward to next month but only up to one-half of monthly target. • City also receives a 500 AF return flow credit every month that counts toward the pass-thru. 33
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